Using (Neo)Vim is surprisingly enjoyable after the initial hurdle.

Language support for Elixir also works fine in Vim.

Plugins⌗

I use minpac as my package manager. VimCasts has a good introduction video on minpac if you’re interested.

Add these plugins to your ~/.vimrc:

Configuration:

" in `.vimrc` or `~/.config/nvim/init.vim`
syntax on
filetype plugin indent on

set laststatus=2
set wildmenu

Elixir Language Server⌗

You need the Elixir Language Server as a backend/integration tool.

Either head over to the original elixir-ls (slow development at the moment) or the more current fork elixir-lsp elixir-ls fork.

You need to clone the repository.

$ git clone git@github.com:elixir-lsp/elixir-ls.git
$ cd elixir-ls
$ mix deps.get
$ mix compile
$ MIX_ENV=prod mix elixir_ls.release

This creates a folder release which includes an executable, for example release/language_server.sh (.bat for Windows).

You need the path to that file for ALE support.

ALE⌗

ALE acts as the client for the Elixir Language Server. Setup for ALE also needs to go into your vim settings (~/.vimrc):

" in `.vimrc` or `~/.config/nvim/init.vim`

let g:ale_linters = {
\   'elixir': ['elixir-ls'],
\}

let g:ale_fixers = {
\   'elixir': ['mix_format'],
\}

You also have to tell ALE where the language server is:

" in `.vimrc` or `~/.config/nvim/init.vim`

let g:ale_elixir_elixir_ls_release='~/<PATH-TO-YOUR-RELEASE>'

Only specify the path, not the file itself (language_server.sh or language_server.bat).

Now, you can use the command :ALEFix in Vim to fix your files.

I chose the following config options:

" in `.vimrc` or `~/.config/nvim/init.vim`

let g:ale_completion_enabled = 1
let g:ale_sign_error = '✘'
let g:ale_sign_warning = '⚠'
let g:ale_lint_on_enter = 0
let g:ale_lint_on_text_changed = 'never'
highlight ALEErrorSign ctermbg=NONE ctermfg=red
highlight ALEWarningSign ctermbg=NONE ctermfg=yellow
let g:ale_linters_explicit = 1
let g:ale_lint_on_save = 1
let g:ale_fix_on_save = 1

noremap <Leader>ad :ALEGoToDefinition<CR>
nnoremap <leader>af :ALEFix<cr>
noremap <Leader>ar :ALEFindReferences<CR>

"Move between linting errors
nnoremap ]r :ALENextWrap<CR>
nnoremap [r :ALEPreviousWrap<CR>

Better Language Client Support⌗

ALE is great for linting and fixing files, but it can make VIM slow.

Alternatively, you can use a dedicated language server plugin, for example LanguageClient-neovim (works for Vim8 and NeoVim).

You can find a guide here.

Further Reading⌗